Farewell Alaska...A Look Back at Some Highlights

We're back in Minnesota now!  As we wrapped up our time in Alaska I (probably way too many times) asked each family member to share their favorite memories of our time here, as well as some things they're looking forward to about returning to Minnesota.  We do this to help say goodbye to one adventure and transition to the next phase in life, to capture the memories, and to start processing everything.  Here are the various responses to the "highlights" question:


David
Highlights in Alaska:  I asked David, "What made your heart sing during our time here in Alaska?" And he said, "Well, if you phrase it that way, it's the first bite of apricot pizza at Moose's Tooth"  Lest you think he's exaggerating, here's some background on this restaurant:  Moose's Tooth Pizza is, according to the NY Business Journal the "highest-grossing, single-unit independent pizza place in America" with $6 million in annual sales, and they're ranked as the third best pizza restaurant in the United States.  They're famous for their apricot pizza, which includes apricot sauce, carrots, cream cheese, peppers and chicken.  I am not an adventurous eater, but this is really good pizza and deserves its acclaim.  We ate Moose's Tooth Pizza 4 times in our 10 weeks here.

Moose's Tooth Pizza.  Rated third best in the U.S. for good reason!

And seeing as how food is the way to a man's heart...the blueberry pie we made here was unforgettable.  One reason is that we went and picked all of the berries ourselves and it was a lot. of. work.  The berries are maybe 1/3 the size of the blueberries that grow in the lower 48, so we had to pick many more to fill a pie, and they were fairly hidden and tough to find.  We spent probably 2 hours picking 4 cups of blueberries for this pie.  (Or more like 1 adult picking berries with Timothy, and 1 adult kid wrangling the younger two.)

Picking blueberries at Arctic Valley, north of Anchorage.  Timothy was genuinely helpful adding blueberries to the bucket.  Matthew ate every blueberry he picked but had a ball!

Tiny, delicious Alaska wild blueberries.  I learned that Alaska wild blueberries have "extraordinarily high antioxidant levels" compared to wild blueberries in the lower 48.  Yay for blueberry research!

But the result was glorious and worth the effort.  This is partly because I am finally learning how to make a decent blueberry pie that actually holds its shape and is not too runny, but also because it was just yummy berries shared with friends the evening we said goodbye to Ele.

The final product about to be devoured.

David mentioned a number of other highlights:

Seeing the wild bald eagle up close when we were at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center

Wild bald eagle.

Or being in the middle of a phone meeting for work and seeing this moose.  He stopped the meeting to take this picture and send it to his co-worker (and then shooing the moose away to keep it from eating our nearby garden):

David selfie with a moose outside our living room.

His favorite bear sighting was when we saw bears at the fish hatchery in Anchorage.  They were close enough to see them clearly, but far enough away to not be concerned.  David said he also enjoyed watching the chickens grow from chicks in a bathtub to fully mature, and he enjoyed seeing the big fish catches coming in during our camping trip to Seward. 

Looking forward to returning to Minnesota: starting work at a more reasonable 7:30am (instead of 5:30 here in Anchorage, or occasionally earlier) and getting our sleep schedules back in sync, less likely a bear will be in our back yard.


Ann
Highlights in Alaska: 
 
This might sound odd, but I've sort of dreaded writing this.  In part because I have no idea.  I don't know what to say.  I don't know how to say it.  I have loved being here in Alaska, but the reason doesn't fit nicely into a paragraph, but here's my attempt:

I love the "adventure around every corner" feeling and unpredictability, within bounds.  I love the mundane things in life suddenly becoming interesting.  I love stumbling into new adventures without even trying.  I love meeting new people and seeing if I can draw an interesting story or two out of these unsuspecting strangers.  I love the spontaneous topics that arise that I can talk about with David and the kids, anything from economics 101, to where we see God at work in Alaska.  I loved learning about alpenglow, bore tides, butchering chickens, heroic dog sled teams, John Muir's travels to Alaska (read his account if you want a more poetic description of Alaska!), and the history of sourdough starters.  Living here at an urban homestead was a highlight, with the encouragement to learn new foodie skills, sharing meals with others, and swapping work so that everyone's load is lighter and more joyous.  I learned about how Mom's of young kids here in Alaska deal with bears...they just get used to the risk and watch their kids more closely than I'm used to.  I learned about an interesting (but controversial) program for Alaska homeschool families where they, with some accountability to the local school system, can get paid between $1,200 and $1,800 per kid per school year for classes and supplies.  (Whaaaat??!!)  I learned how to defend myself from a moose (in theory at least, not in practice).  Outside of my regular routines and comfort zone, I am more open to learning new things, asking questions and exploring, in ways that my brain does not do so easily back home.  Being the sojourner I know that I am less prideful.  I see more clearly my limited, finite understanding of the world and I am put in my proper place in the grand scope of creation.

As an example of an increased willingness to try new things:  In Minnesota I would not think to wash and save the chicken bones from dinner last night and reassemble them, but that's what we did a few days ago, matching them up to a diagram on Google as best as we could:

Timothy and a reconstructed chicken skeleton.

To keep ourselves a little organized in our adventuring, I kept this old-school notepad:

The list of ideas for adventures, most recommendations from random people.

I would ask friendly strangers at playgrounds, and friends of friends to tell me their favorite things in Anchorage and the various surrounding towns.  Then I'd add them to this master list, sorted based on location.  Then we'd tick off a handful of things each week as time allowed.

So these are some more concrete highlights that are more conducive to a blog and pictures:

Hiking Flattop mountain was for sure a highlight for me.

Summit of Flattop Mountain.

You know the famous 'beach' or 'mountains' preference question?  I am 'mountains' for sure.  I loved hiking Flattop mourtain knowing that, while the season in life I'm in now is not super conducive to hiking in mountains, Lord willing I will be able to return to more hiking and backpacking some day.  A good rock scramble to the top of a mountain helps to keep that part of me alive until I can more fully engage it in my post-little-kids phase of life..

Rock scramble coming down from Flattop Mountain.

Or hiking up to see Exit Glacier in Kenai Fjords National Park:

Another super cool hike was the Winner Creek Trail in Girdwood which has a hand tram where you (and people on either end of the tram) can pull people across in a metal bucket over a river.  This moving bucket is suspended maybe 100 feet over some rapids rushing through a gorge.

David pulling my Dad, Timothy and Matthew across the river, aided by other people pulling on the station on the other side of the river.

My Dad, Timothy and Matthew arriving to the station in the hand tram on the Winner Creek Trail.

My view on the hand tram looking down at the rushing rapids.  I will admit to being a little unnerved, but still a captivating and a unique experience.

On a much less healthy note...you know those coffee and tea places that take themselves really way too seriously?  Well move on over, because now we hot chocolate lovers have our own place too.  It's called the Modern Dwellers Chocolate Lounge and it's in Anchorage.  This place takes its hot chocolate, or "drinking chocolate" very seriously.  Here's their (admittedly confusing) main menu sign with step-by-step directions for ordering your drinking chocolate:

The menu at Modern Dwellers Chocolate Lounge in Anchorage.  It gets sort of complicated on step #2 but figuring it out is worth it!

Minnesota entrepreneurs...I smell a lovely opportunity here to bring this to Minnesota.

Seeing the mother and 2 baby grizzly bears at Denali National Park was emotionally memorable for me.  The mother bear looked like she was perhaps foraging for food, while the 2 cubs wrestled each other nearby.  I instantly felt kinship with that Mama Bear.  I enjoyed getting back to my roots and identifying plants with Timothy, and keeping a list of wild animal sightings.  I enjoy biking, even with 3 young kids, and biking the Coastal Trail along the Cook Inlet (part of the Pacific Ocean) with mountain views was gorgeous.

Joshua and I biking the Coastal Trail in Anchorage.

I loved our unplanned Denali sighting at Kinkaid Park.  We were just picnicking somewhere and sure enough it was a clear day and there's Mt. Denali, unmistakable on the horizon.

On our trip down to Seward we had multiple chances to see sea otters swim around Resurrection Bay (part of the Pacific Ocean).  They would occasionally go down for a dive and then pop up again a few minutes later.

Sea otter floating on its back in Resurrection Bay.

Later we walked around the harbor looking at the various boats.

And on our last evening in Anchorage we re-visited a favorite spot: Point Woronzof where we could throw rocks in the ocean while airplanes take off from the airport right over our heads.  On our way to Point Woronzof we stopped to watch a mother and two baby moose on the side of the road:

Joshua sees the mother moose.

Mother moose leading her young (we saw two young moose, but only one made it into this photo).

Then I had to smile smile smile as I saw these same moose on the front page of the local newspaper the next day, our last morning in Alaska:

Cover Page of the Alaska Dispatch News.  Photo Title Reads: "Family Outing Stops Traffic at Point Woronzof"  Caption Reads: "A cow moose and two calves stopped traffic as they crossed the road at Point Woronzof near the airport in Anchorage on Monday."

Looking forward to returning to Minnesota: other Moms and friends to chat with at playgrounds, our small group and church, no bears and a fenced yard for the kids, meal exchange group, darkness at night, warm enough to wear sandals, better quality produce.  I will not miss these warning signs for hikers:

Sign reads:  "BEAR ALERT!  MOOSE KILL just off the road at the Avalanche Area pull out."  We saw this driving in, 0.2 miles from where we started our hike.  Yikes.  On our way out after the hike we saw the bear on the side of the road.  Had we seen that bear before our hike I'm not sure I would have done the hike, so glad we only saw the bear on our way out!

Watch out for unexploded artillery shells too!  (We never saw any.)

Timothy
Highlights in Alaska: Timothy was very consistent in his answer: Hiking Flattop mountain.  He went both up and down the hardest rock scramble at the top with pretty much no physical help, twice.  And for his hard work he was rewarded with the gorgeous view of mountains on three sides, and the ocean and downtown Anchorage on the other.

At the top of Flattop Mountain, east of Anchorage.

Matthew also scrambled to the top of Flattop mountain which was a mighty undertaking for a 4 year old.  But Matthew needed to be carried down, which in hind sight was a bigger risk than we should have undertaken.  Not our best parenting moment!  So Matthew did not go up to the very top the second time we did this hike.  Our family hikes were a highlight for all of us, but not every moment was rosy.  Especially at the start the Timothy and Matthew would complain and it took some emotional fortitude from Mom and Dad to force the troops to continue in hopes that attitudes would change!  But usually within 10 minutes of the start they'd be lost in the wonder and excitement of it and then of course hated ending the hike.

Timothy and Matthew's favorite food moment was probably eating fresh shrimp while overlooking the Whittier harbor where it was caught, and watching the fishermen come in with their catches for the day.  They learned how to peel the shrimp (courtesy of a lesson from the waitress...I had no idea how to peel shrimp) and just gobbled it down.  Just about every restaurant that served seafood, they'd order it.  I never learned to like seafood, and so David and I are trying to get our kids past that deficiency of mine.

Peeling and eating shrimp at Whittier harbor.

And of course playgrounds were a major highlight for all 3 of our boys, and for me and David a time to relax:-)  I did a Google search for "top 10 playgrounds in Anchorage" and we hit all of those during our time here.  Often the playgrounds had some sort of local flair:

Slide out of the mouth of a polar bear!

Trace the trail of the Iditarod!

Timothy is old enough now to process and verbalize his highlights.  He said that he loved that Alaska because "it is so full of forests, mountains and wilderness...it makes me feel so happy."  The apple doesn't fall far from the tree:-)

Timothy examining Exit Glacier in Kenai Fjords National Park.

He said he loved our two camping trips, one with each set of Grandparents.  When I asked him what he liked about our camping trips he mentioned the time we had a good look at a porcupine up in a tree at a campsite near ours.

Porcupine in a tree at a neighboring campsite.

He loved seeing Mt. Denali, which would often spur us to sing a song about "each continent's highest mountain..." that we learned a year ago at our homeschool co-op.  And Timothy was my flower-ID kid...he would often stop and ask to ID a wildflower on the trail.

Timothy and I trying to identify a wildflower on Mt. Alyeska.

Looking forward to returning to Minnesota: swimming, friends, starting soccer again, Legos at home, building a snow fort in our yard this winter.


Matthew
Highlights in Alaska: For the first 6 weeks of our time here, Matthew's answer to the "favorite" question was very consistent: the chickens.  All three boys really enjoyed the chickens, but perhaps Matthew the most.  I asked Matthew why he likes holding chickens so much, and he said it's because "they're the most cutest things, and fluffy".  In his imaginative play the chickens were his friends, and he would walk up to anyone who would listen and explain how to properly hold a chicken.  He was happy to sit inside the electric fence area and play, just him and the chickens.

The chickens were supplanted only by our rafting trip that we did in late July on the Kenai River.  Jerami (who conveniently used to be a rafting guide) was our guide for this trip, and he and Ele did the leg work of getting things organized.  We just needed to show up with our gear.  Before anyone gets any crazy pictures in their head (as I did, wondering how in the world rafting with 3 young kids was going to work...), this was super tame rafting.  Maybe more like ripples than rapids, but just enough to occasionally get water into the raft a few times.  This rafting trip was a highlight for Matthew and Timothy, but Joshua didn't care for it...the poor kid struggled to get his much needed nap in on the raft.  So while he has been Mr. Flexible in his naps this summer so we can adventure about, this rafting trip just didn't make the cut.

Rafting down the Kenai River.

Matthew's favorite hiking moment was finding raspberries to eat periodically on the trail when we hiked up The West Butte Trail north of Anchorage.

Taking a break to eat some raspberries on a hike.  A great motivator on the hike: "Hey kids...let's see if there are some raspberries up here on the trail!"

Conquering the West Butte Trail.  The top part of the ascent included over 500 steps...no small feat for a 4 year old!

On hikes, we called him "Matthew stop-and-look-at-the-view O'Neill" because he was the kid (maybe due to exhaustion?!) who would tell us all to quit hiking for a moment and just stop and look at the view or a beautiful flower:-)  Matthew said he liked going up the aerial tram to the top of Mt. Alyeska with Grandma and Grandpa O'Neill.  I know he loved playing in the dirt and rocks and snow when we hiked around Mt. Alyeska:

Imaginative rock/dirt/water play with a view!

History came alive in multiple way for the boys during our trip.  Matthew was enthralled to read a book that simultaneously shares the history of trains in Alaska, along with a true story of a steam engine train that rescued passengers on a diesel train stranded in a flood in the 1940s.

Here's the book we read (Ol' 556 by Shannon Cartwright):

The library book we read...a true story about a steam engine train.

And then we got to go and see the actual steam train now located at a park in Anchorage:

Matthew examining the steam engine train we had just read about in a kids book.

The boys were also captivated walking through replicas of traditional Native Alaskan houses at the Alaska Native Heritage Center.  Here they are shown one traditional method for catching fish in a basket:

At the Alaska Native Heritage Center.  They were also amused by the seal-skin backpack, in this picture directly above Matthew's head.

Regular life around the homestead was a highlight for all of the boys.  Timothy and Matthew eagerly examined the bee hive whenever Alex came over to open it up.  Timothy and Matthew loved dumping the compost bin outside and watching the chickens scramble for it.  Timothy loved trying the birch soda and syrup, and asked for it repeatedly, having no clue what a rare treat it is, or how super expensive it is to buy.  They spent many afternoons romping around the property and exploring and playing "Star Wars".  An outdoor structure intended to become a compost pile became their "ship" in pretend play.  Or just moments like this, when the boys helped to clean the chicken poop off of this bathtub that the chicks lived in:

Using the water spray hose to clean chicken poop off of the tub the chicks lived in.

Seriously, who could ask for something more exciting to 6- and 4-year-old boys than spraying chicken poop off of a tub??!

Looking forward to returning to Minnesota: Toys toys toys!!!  Especially a new Larrymobile that awaits him at home with 4 functioning wheels, darkness at bedtime, having it be more okay to run around the house and be loud, and starting Classical Conversations this fall.


Joshua
Highlights in Alaska:  You might think this would be hard to know what my 1 year old most enjoyed here in Alaska, seeing as how his vocabulary is really really small.  But Joshua's highlight is actually the easiest to discern: airplanes.  There are airplanes everywhere here flying overhead.  They are a constant source of entertainment anytime we were at soccer, hiking, at a playground, in our yard, or just walking through a parking lot to our car.  Joshua was often the first to notice them and let us know by making his airplane noise ("whoooooosh") and swooshing his hand through the air.  His favorite favorite activity was each time we went to visit Lake Hood, the world's busiest sea plane base here in Anchorage:

Sea plane taking off at Lake Hood Seaplane Base.

Watching a sea plane land.

It was easy to get up close to the airplanes as they were taking off and landing.  We met one pilot who had just come in for a landing as was waiting to be refueled.  When the airplanes would come in to land on the water, Joshua would just point and shake and jump and be SO EXCITED and share his joy with the whole world, and the giggles and smiles of a 1 year old are very contagious:-)

We asked Joshua if he wanted to name his fish in the fishtank "airplane whoosh" or "train choo choo"  And he replied "whoosh"  So his fish is officially named *the sound that an airplane makes*.

And our last day in Anchorage we made it to the Alaska Aviation Museum.  They were somewhat ho-hum about seeing the big planes at the museum or learning about the (crazy) history of aviation in Alaska, but they could have spent way more time there just pretending to fly planes:

In the cockpit "flying" a plane at the Alaska Aviation Museum.

Joshua also enjoyed seeing the bears...he saw and recognized bears in the wild on at least three occasions.  We know he remembers seeing bears outside the window of our house (see the video here), because later when we would walk by the spot in our yard where Joshua saw the bears, he would point and give us his bear growl.  This always made me pause, when I heard him growl as I stood on my back step outside.  Was he just letting me know that he remembered seeing a bear there, or is he telling me that he currently sees a bear there?  I would pause and do a double check around me before proceeding down the steps to the car.  Thankfully it was always him remembering the bears, not currently seeing bears:-)

Looking forward to returning to Minnesota: I'm less certain about this one.  Less time strapped in a stroller or backpack while hiking??  More fruit in his diet?  Sandboxes?  Seeing Grandma and Grandpa more often?  More normal nap routine and locations?

That's a wrap!  Reading through this blog post of summer highlights...it strikes me as sort of insane and even opulent.  An embarrassment of experiential riches.  I pinch myself that we had this chance to come and live in Alaska for 10 weeks, surrounded by the opportunity for endless adventures, and I sit here a very thankful soul for opportunities beyond anything I deserve.  If you're interested in following other families who travel around the world (doing way crazier trips than us) do a google search on "worldschooling" and be inspired by the a-m-a-z-i-n-g stories of families with kids adventuring the globe....everything from how to find a location-independent income that travels well and renting out your house, to potty training on-the-go and how to teach math from anywhere.  Maybe some day we'll figure out how to give that a whirl.

A number of people have asked us what's next for our family.  Short answer is we're not exactly sure, and praying for God's lead in that.  Our house in Shoreview, MN is currently rented out and we are living at my parent's house in St. Paul.  We seriously enjoy living with my parents (no joke), more than I expected:-)  We may or may not travel more this fall.  We will likely look to buy a house somewhere in the Twin Cities this year or early next year.

Hugs from all of us,

Ann